In 2014, local residents joined hands to protest the govt’s plan to eat into the buffer zone with a memorial to the late ishnuvardhan

In 2015, HC reprimanded revenue dept for allotting 2 acres for a Vishnuvardhan memorial; govt has now allotted 10 acres to judicial dept in same buffer zone

It seems the government has no love for Bengaluru’s greenery. In 2014, when the government allotted two acres in Turahalli forest buffer zone to build a memorial for late Kannada film star Vishnuvardhan, the judiciary stepped in. The High Court (while hearing a public interest petition) had stopped the transfer on the very day the CM had laid the foundation stone for the memorial. The argument was that the transfer of this forest land was against the law. Ironically, now, the same piece of land – plus eight acres more – has been allotted to the judicial department itself.

This development has not gone down well with the forest department whose repeated requests to protect the forest land abutting Turahalli reserve forest have been ignored by the district administration, sources said.

Activists, who recently stumbled upon the allotment, called it a gross violation of the Karnataka Forest Rules, which bars any allotment of land within 100 metres of a reserve forest. This was the same grounds on which the High Court bench (chaired by Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice BV Nagarathna) had set aside the government’s allotment of the land for the memorial.

“It seems they are trying to play with the High Court. This is complete madness as the district administration has allotted the same piece of land, which the High Court had set aside as forest land. It seems somebody is desperate for this property. This is happening a year after the HC ruling. We will pursue a legal battle,” said Sharath R Babu, former honorary wildlife warden, Bengaluru urban, who had filed the PIL earlier.

A forest department source maintained that the department had not been consulted in the process. Despite an objection by the forest department, communique and reminders against the move -- as recent as one last month -- have gone unanswered, said a forest department official.

The case so far

The issue goes back to 2014, when the government had allotted a 2-acre plot in Survey No 22, Mylasandra village for a Vishnuvardhan memorial. However, this drew sharp criticism from environmentalists and locals who pointed out that the land abutting Turahalli reserve forest was home to varied flora and fauna.

Calling it a violation of the Karnataka Forest Act and Karnataka Forest Rules, activists had filed a PIL. Quite dramatically, as the CM laid the foundation stone on December 30, 2014, the High Court stayed the transfer the same day. On June 29, 2015, the HC set aside the allotment.

“It appears from records submitted to us that the land is within 100 meters of reserved forest. Under sub-rule (2) of rule 41 of Karnataka Forest Rules, 1969, such land cannot be granted. Therefore we set aside the allotment made in favour of respondent no.7-Trust for erection of the memorial as it was in contravention of sub-rule (2) of rule 41 of Karnataka Forest Rules, 1969 (sic),” the High Court had ruled. But making a mockery of this order, the DC Bengaluru office had recently passed an order, allotting 10 acre to the judicial department in the same survey and same village which had come before HC in the PIL in the Vishnuvardhan memorial case.

“The Environment Protection Act, in case of misleading government and diverting forest land for non-forest activity, calls for seven years of imprisonment for an officer, if charges are proved. It also leads to contempt of High Court. CrPC 133 clearly says that it is mandatory de jure function of DC to safeguard any public asset, and the patch being a crucial water supply catchment, is one of reasons the court set aside the government order.

If an officer is so irresponsible and incapable of understanding and being a trustee of public property, and if he/she is unable to act, it is a serious lapse. Forest land has to be restored at any cost as it’s a very sensitive water supply catchment,” AN Yellappa Reddy, environmentalist and a former environment secretary, Karnataka, told Bangalore Mirror.

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